Iranian Prez Ebrahim Raisi feared dead, helicopter wreckage found

Dubai, May 20: All passengers and the crew of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's helicopter are feared dead in the crash, head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society Pir-Hossein Kolivand announced.

"No signs of alive passengers have been found after the discovery of the crashed helicopter location," he said on IRIB TV channel.

The helicopter also carried Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Governor of the East Azerbaijan Province Malek Rakhmati and Tabriz Imam of Friday Prayer Mohammad Ali Ale-Hashem.

According to IRNA, Kolivand said the teams had arrived at the wreckage of the crashed copter.

President Raisi was returning with several others after inaugurating a dam on Iran's border with the Azerbaijan Republic when his helicopter crashed.

In a televised address, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged calm and assured that there would be no disruption in the country's governance.